He exited from the back and stepped onto solid ground. He focused his attention to the sky, hoping another eagle would soar by and distract them both from what nearly transpired in the plane with a witness. In a tandem kayak, she wouldn’t be within kissing distance.
“I’ll see you two in four hours,” Liam said once the kayaks and equipment were unloaded.
“Thanks for the ride,” Cody said, shaking his hand.
“Tessa would’ve killed me if I said no.” Liam looked at Jenna. “My wife really likes you. Between you and me, I think she’s buttering you up to get some autographs tom—”
“Thanks, Liam,” Cody interrupted before Liam could spill the beans about a story hour that obviously wasn’t limited to the second grade class anymore. She’d murder him in his sleep if half the town showed up to the library. He glanced up at the sky, hoping Eddie was watching them. He’d be chuckling for sure, that same sparkle dancing in his eyes that Jenna was starting to share more and more.
Jenna yanked on Cody’s jacket sleeve as Liam hopped into his plane. “Fourhours?”
“It’s a good hour on the water before we’ll see Bear Glacier.” Mom had also sent along a lunch—a brilliant idea if ever there was one—after admitting how much she liked Jenna . . . and asking about thedatethat wasn’t a date three times. Haylee had given plenty of details to appease her when Cody kept his lips sealed.
“An hour? Maybe I should’ve spent more time in the gym like Whitney insisted,” Jenna muttered, her voice nearly drowned out by Liam taking off.
Cody cupped both of her elbows, admiring how adorable she looked in that fuzzy white ear warmer, and waited until she met his gaze. “I promise there’s no cell reception out here. Let’s leave our annoying siblings at home where they belong and enjoy this rare, gorgeous fall day, okay?”
As Liam flew away, an eagle cried out overhead. Together they said, “Three!”
Fishing his phone from an interior jacket pocket, he put an arm around Jenna and guided them in line with the eagle soaring above them. He snapped a dozen or more photos, hopefulonewould satisfy Eddie’s terms.
“Let me see,” Jenna said, leaning closer as she scrolled through their attempts.
“We might have to keep trying if we see more.”
“This one’s only a little blurry.” He stopped on the photo she favored, more focused on the dazzling smile he’d captured than the fuzzy bird that could as easily pass for a hawk as an eagle. But he wouldn’t dare delete this one.
“I think it’s a good one.”
Their gaze met, and Cody’s traitorous eyes dropped right to those soft lips. This time, he didn’t fight it. Couldn’t fight it. He cupped her cheek with his free hand, stroking her chilled skin with his thumb. Their gazes locked, and for once, no words were spoken. He stalled several seconds, allowing her every opportunity to pull away as he ever so slowly leaned in.
Their lips an inch apart, Jenna reached for his neck and yanked him the rest of the way down. The kiss ignited a series of fireworks around them. Cody dropped his phone into his coat pocket and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer. Her cinnamon-vanilla scent invaded his senses, but he welcomed it in because it felt like . . .home.
Breathless. That’s how Cody felt when their lips finally broke apart. Breathless and slightly dizzy at the exhilarating moment. He suspected kissing Jenna would be nice, but this . . . this was on a level all its own.
Before he could search Jenna’s eyes for what she might be feeling, she wriggled free and headed toward the kayak, sending him an easy smile over her shoulder. “You going to show me how to use this thing or what?”
A mixture of disappointment and contentment warred inside him. They both knew this could never go anywhere, but at least she wasn’t vocalizing immediate regret. Eddie might haunt him for it, but Cody’d never regret that kiss. He’d carry it with him to Maui and whatever came next. “You ever gone kayaking before?”
“Nope. Probably why it’s on the list.”
Of the thirteen items Eddie included on his bucket list, this one most appealed to Cody. Nothing he loved more than getting into nature and justbeing. He craved it more than any adrenaline rush or social gathering with new friends. The older he got, the more he realized he appreciated the silence above all. “You’re in for a real treat, then.”
She spun in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings. The snowcapped mountains, the still crystal-blue water reflecting both the open sky and nearby icebergs, and the rocky shore. “I wish I’d come sooner,” she said, her smile both awe-inspired and a bit sad. “Grandpa tried to get me to visit last summer, but I—”
“Nothing you can do to change the past,” he said, helping her into the front of the kayak. She’d slipped on a pair of gloves, but he felt the heat of her touch nonetheless. “But the future is for the taking.”
“Pretty heavy insight for a man whose next three years are spoken for,” Jenna said, a raised eyebrow daring him to challenge her statement.
“It’s a future I chose.”
“Why, exactly?” she asked, accepting the paddle he handed her once she was situated.
“My agent said it would open doors for me in the future. That if I do this show and stick out the full three years, I’ll be able to handpick my work.” He left out the small fortune the show promised to pay him each year. He didn’t need the money, but it was a nice financial cushion for whatever came next. “I have a list of places I’ve never traveled. This might be my opportunity to see some of those places.”
“Such as?”
He pushed them into the water before securing himself in the back. “Greece, for one.”
